Yes, I have been thinking of ranges. These models are basic inspiration and could be combined in a range symbol once I get past the basics of how big to make them and how much to modify the general appearance.

The smoother hills are a popular request.

Thank you, both :)

Ok - less peaky hills. Agreed.

@Quenten I wanted a fresh start with complete design freedom (taking suggestions into account). Spectrum is already full of things that I would have to continue to match against, including a colour scheme and a set of textures that aren't as good as I can do these days. Having to make everything fit with things I no longer consider my best work would be quite limiting. I'm hoping that CC4 Overland will be better than Spectrum. I hope it will be anyway.

@Ricko Yes, the angle of view for the model shot is quite a lot more oblique (side view) than Spectrum, which was absolutly isometric in all symbols. What I've done above is not true isometric, but like you I think it looks better. When I draw the mountains and hills I will probably flatten the bases very subtly, or make them less obviously rounded so they can fit together even more easily.

The image for the node setup turned out a bit blurry, so this is it again in a more readable fashion. I continue to work in Blender version 3.6.8 even though there are more up to date versions. They update/upgrade in a fashion that damages version compatibility. Some of these nodes no longer exist in the current version, or exist in such a changed state that they don't work the same way.

In the first image I use 2 Math nodes to do the same thing. This can be done with just one linked to the same inputs and outputs.

Have fun! :)

Thank you for sharing all your favourite overland styles and giving me a little information about why they are your favourites. This was a very enlightening thread for me. I hope it was for you too.

This thread is to show the development of CC4 Overland, or as much as might be interesting to you. It's also an opportunity for you to express your thoughts on how it's going and make suggestions about improvements. Not all suggestions will necessarily be incorporated, but they will all be seriously considered.

So far, I've started with the textures. The initial Land texture I showed a glimpse of in the thread linked above ended up being too busy for it's own good, so it was dumbed down quite considerably to be more of a subtle blotchy background for the more important stuff - the terrain textures and symbols to come. There's also a draft ocean texture.

I usually start by doing all the textures first, but I've also been thinking about the mountains, hills, mesas, craters, etc. I needed good reference material and a way to keep my drawings consistent, so I used Blender to create models for myself.

There is a landscape add on available in Blender, but it doesn't provide the right options for me to get what I wanted, so I made my own set of geometry nodes. I know there are other Blender enthusiasts among you, so here are the nodes for the mountains if you want to have a go at making one of your own. I've scrunched them all up as close as I can so you can read them.

And here are the variables for the active mountain (outlined orange above). My spelling is still really bad. 'Aplitude' is meant to be 'Amplitude'.

Now begins the long process of hand drawing the mountains based on the models I've just made.

Please feel free to comment and make suggestions.

The interesting pattern emerging between this thread and the FB Group thread, is that preferences seem to be quite polarised. There are just as many people favouring HW as there are MS - mostly for the reasons you mentioned above. What one small group prefers, the other dislikes.

Prior to your comments, last night, I was working on a new land texture that was vaguely reminiscent of the HW Land Brown. Maybe (when I get the texture actually right), I should do a lighter version as well so people can chose how dark or light they like their maps?

I guess it also depends a lot on how individual mappers want to use their maps. Light is much more economical and much clearer when printing, but dark and contrasty is nice for impact when the map is used as a png or jpg.

Please continue to tell me your favourites. It all helps.

Thank you :)